8.Health benefits of cherry fruit by Allah Dad Khan

2. Health Benefits
of Cherry Fruit
By
Allah Dad Khan

4. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Wonderfully delicious, cherry fruit is packed
with full of health-benefiting nutrients and
unique antioxidants. Cherries are native to
Eastern Europe and Asia Minor regions.
• Botanically, the fruit is a “drupe” (stone
fruit), belonging to the
broad Rosaceae family of small tree fruits in
the genus, Prunus. Some of the common
“drupe” family fruits
are plums, peaches, apricots etc. Although
several species of cherries exist, two popular
cultivars are wild or sweet-cherry, and sour
or tart-cherry. While sweet cherries belong
to the species of Prunus avium, tart variety
belongs to that of Prunus cerasus.
•

5. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Protection from Diabetes
• Sweet cherries have a lower
glycemic index of 22, lower
than apricots (57), grapes
(46), peaches (42),
blueberries (40)
or plums (39). This makes
them a better choice of a
fruit snack compared with
many other fruits, especially
for diabetics.
•

6. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Helps You Sleep Better
• Tossing and turning at night? Cherry
juice to the rescue! Drink cherry juice
30 minutes after waking and 30
minutes before your evening meal. In
a study, participants boosted their
melatonin intake by following this
routine. Cherries are a good source
ofmelatonin.They have also been
found to help with jet lag.
• Note: there is a higher level of
melatonin in tart cherries compared
to sweet cherries.
•

7. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Tart cherries reduced
belly fat in a
study. Researchers found
rats that were fed whole
tart cherry powder, in a
high fat diet, didn’t gain
as much weight or build
up as much body fat as
rats that didn’t.

9. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Helps Ward of
Alzheimer’s
• The Alzheimer’s
Association includes
cherries as one of the
memory boosting foods
because they are rich in
antioxidants
•

10. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Reduces Risk of Stroke
• Tart cherries provide
cardiovascular benefits. The
anthocyanins, which are the
pigments giving  tart cherries
its red color, may activate
PPAR which regulates genes
involved in fat and glucose
metabolism and thus, reduce
risk factors for high
cholesterol, blood pressure
and diabetes. –
Research University of
Michigan Health System
•

11. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Slows the Aging of Skin
• Cherries have the highest
antioxidant level of any fruit.
Antioxidants help the body
fight the free radicals that
make us look old. Drinking one
glass of tart cherry juice daily
slows down the aging process,
according to Scientists from
the Michigan State University.
Cherry juice is also
recommended as an
alternative treatment for other
skin conditions.
•

12. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Lowers Risk of Gout Attacks
• Eating cherries lowers risk of gout
attacks by 35 percent in a study with
633 gout patients, done by by Yuqing
Zhang, professor of medicine and
public health at Boston University.
Gout patients who consumed
cherries over a two-day period had a
35 percent lower risk of gout attacks,
compared to those who did not eat
the cherries. “Our findings indicate
that consuming cherries or cherry
extract lowers the risk of gout attack,
the gout flare risk continued to
decrease with increasing cherry
consumption, up to three servings
over two days.” said Zhang.
•

13. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Reduces Muscle Pain
• A cup and a half of tart cherries
or one cup of tart cherry juice can
reduce muscle inflammation and
soreness studies suggest. A group
of marathon runners drank tart
cherry juice twice daily for seven
days before their race. The group
who drank the cherry juice group
experienced less muscle pain
after the race than those who
drank another fruit drink.
•

14. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Good for the Heart
• Cherries are very high
in potassium, which helps
regulate heart rate and
blood pressure and
reduces the risk of
hypertension. The
phytosterols in cherries
help reduce bad
cholesterol levels.
•

15. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Helps with osteoarthritis
relief
• The pain and discomfort of
swollen joints were reduced
when tart cherry juice was
consumed twice a day for
three weeks in a study of
twenty women ages 40 to
70 with inflammatory
osteoarthritis.
•

16. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Helps to Prevent Colon Cancer
• Substances in tart cherries can
reduce the formation of the
carcinogenic chemicals that develop
from the charring of
hamburger. Researchers added tart
cherries to ground beef patties. “The
fat contents of the cherry patties
were, as expected, lower than that of
the control patties, whereas the
moisture contents were
greater. Cherry tissue will not only
slow down the oxidation
deterioration of meat lipids, but will
also substantially reduce the
formation of heterocyclic aromatic
amines.” – J. Ian Gray, PhD, Professor
of Food Science at Michigan State.
•

18. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Cherries help fight cancer
• The distinctive deep red
pigment cherries are known
for comes from flavonoids;
powerful antioxidants that
help fight free radicals in the
body. Cyanidin is a flavonoid
from the anthocyanin group
found in cherries that helps
keep cancerous cells from
growing out of control. And,
for cherries with the most
anthocyanins go for sweet
cherries with the deepest
pigment; crimson-purple
rather than bright red

19. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Cherries help keep you trim
• Eating cherries can help you lose weight and
stay trim. A cup of cherries is less than 100
calories and packs in 3 grams of fiber, which will
keep you feeling full longer. Also, these little
beauties contain many B-vitamins such as
thiamin, riboflavin and vitamin B6; these
vitamins are crucial for metabolism and convert
nutrients into energy. What could be better than
eating cherries to help you stay lean and skinny?

21. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• They can improve brain
function: If you make it
a habit to snack on tart
cherries, you could be
improving your brain in
the long run. Research
has shown that cherries
can even reduce
symptoms of
Alzheimer's disease and
Huntington's disease

22. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Cherries combat post-workout soreness. Find
yourself having trouble walking down the stairs (or
even sitting down) after a hard workout? If you're
looking for a healthy way to fight post-exercise
soreness, cherries fit the bill. Studies suggest a cup
and a half of tart cherries or one cup of tart cherry
juice can significantly reduce muscle inflammation
and soreness (remember that a good workout
actually causes muscle damage, resulting in
inflammation).

23. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Cherries reduce stroke
risk. Researchers from the
University of Michigan Health
System found that tart cherries
provide cardiovascular benefits
equal to some medications, and
can improve the result even when
taken with prescriptions. They
believe that anthocyanins -- the
pigments that give the tart
cherries its red color -- may
activate something called PPAR in
bodily tissues, which in turn
regulate fat and glucose levels
and therby reduce risk factors for
high cholesterol, blood pressure
and diabetes. Not a bad gig for
such a small fruit!

24. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Antioxidants
• Cherries are full of antioxidants. These antioxidants
have a number of different benefits, including the
ability to prevent cancer and heart disease, as well
as fighting off free radicals. The antioxidants found
in cherries also work to slow the signs of aging. All
cherries contain their own antioxidants but sour
cherries have the most, beating out even
blueberries with their antioxidant content.

25. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Weight Loss
• A cherry is made up of more than 75 percent water.
This water content makes cherries a perfect weight
loss food as foods that are high in water and low in
calories keep you feeling fuller for a longer period of
time than foods and drinks that are higher in
calories. Cherries are also loaded with fiber, at
almost 3 grams per serving. This fiber helps
accelerate weight loss and reduces your cholesterol
levels by slowing its absorption into your blood.

26. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Melatonin
• Some cherries naturally contain
melatonin -- a natural substance that
is typically produced by your brain to
regulate your sleep cycles -- reports a
study published in the "Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry" in
2001. While your body does have the
ability to produce its own melatonin,
it typically does so only in darkness
and not everyone is able to produce
all the melatonin that is needed.
Factors such as the artificial lighting
that is found in many offices and
homes limit how much melatonin is
produced by your body. Eating
cherries might help boost melatonin
levels in your body.

27. Health Benefits of Cherry
Fruit
• Pain Relief and Bone Health
• Cherries contain substances known as anthocyanins --
purple and blue pigments that give the cherries their
color. These compounds reduce pain related to
inflammation, according to the NYU Langone Medical
Center. Cherries are also used to relieve the pain
associated with arthritis and gout, though the extent to
which they relieve pain needs further investigation.
Cherries also contain boron, which helps increase bone
health when consumed in conjunction with magnesium
and calcium.